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Or I shall live your epitaph to make, Or you survive when I in earth am rotten; From hence your memory death cannot take, Although in me each part will be forgotten. Your name from hence immortal life shall have, Though I, once gone, to all the world must die: The earth can yield me but a common grave, When you entombèd in men's eyes shall lie. Your monument shall be my gentle verse, Which eyes not yet created shall o'er-read, And tongues to be your being shall rehearse When all the breathers of this world are dead; You still shall live -- such virtue hath my pen -- Where breath most breathes, even in the mouths of men.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 81 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Elena Olegovna Firsova (b. 1950), "Or I shall live your epitaph to make", op. 25 no. 1, published 1981, first performed 1986 [ voice and organ ], from Shakespeare's Sonnets, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Elena Olegovna Firsova (b. 1950), "Or I shall live your epitaph to make", op. 25a no. 1, published 1988 [ voice and 4 saxophones ], from Shakespeare's Sonnets, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Simpson (1820 - 1876), "Sonnet LXXXI", 1865, published [1878] [ medium voice and piano ], in Sonnets of Shakespeare, Selected from a complete Setting and Miscellaneous Songs, ed. Natalie Macfarren, London : Stanley Lucas, Weber [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Samuil Yakovlevich Marschak (1887 - 1964) , no title, appears in Шекспир Уильям - сонеты (Shekspir Uil'jam - sonety) = Sonnets of William Shakespeare, no. 81 ; composed by Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title, appears in Sonnets de Shakespeare, no. 81, first published 1857
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Sia che io resti vivo, il tuo epitaffio a dettare", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Сонет 81", written 1981, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-04
Line count: 14
Word count: 117
Tebe li ya slozhu nadgrobny'j stix,
Il` sam skorej sgniyu v sy'roj mogile,
No budesh` ty' vsegda sredi zhivy'x,
A ya sojdu v zabven`ya kraj uny'ly'j.
Moi stixi tvoj obraz soxranyat,
A ya umru, – ne vspomnyat dazhe imya;
Moyu mogilu gody' sokrushat,
Tvoej – veka stoyat` nekolebimo.
Tvoj pamyatnik – v moix prosty'x stixax,
Chto vnuki nashix vnukov prochitayut,
Ty' budesh` zhit` v dalyokix golosax,
Kogda druz`ya poslednie istayut.
Ty' ne umryosh` – takov moj gordy'j stix –
Kak dux, vitaya na ustax zhivy'x.
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Note on TransliterationsShow untransliterated (original) text
Text Authorship:
- Singable translation by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "Сонет 81", written 1981, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets, no. 81
Researcher for this page: Dmitri Smirnov
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-20
Line count: 14
Word count: 85